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Comments by
Eliane Cavalleiro,
Ana Agostino has highlighted some
important aspects for adults education from the point of view of
poverty, education and work. But, even running the risk of
seeming monothematic, I think we cannot stop stressing race,
racism and their consequences as elements that deepen
inequalities in these three fields. Geledés - Brazil Racism is present at global level: In Russia there are violent attacks against Africans, Asians and Latin-Americans. In Great Britain, many Asians and Black people loose jobs because of racial discrimination. In Guatemala, the National Commission against Discrimination and Racism has evidenced that indigenous people are victims of racism in all areas of social welfare. In this seminar we have Vilma MC Clenan (Jamaica) and Fanny Gómez (Colombia) presentations, which have contributed with some reflections to the subject. These are examples that reflect a global tendency. Racism and racial discrimination cannot be interpreted as two specific components of a country, or as a marginal item in the subject of education, mainly on adults education. Governments make efforts to keep this agenda hidden. I think our efforts will remain weakened if we forget this agenda, if we don’t put into practice what we obtained at the 3rd World Conference against Racism, Durban (2001). UNESCO has recently informed (April 30th) that Brazil is far from reaching race equality on education. But UNESCO and Brazil will present EFA goals without considering race equality as a goal to be attained! No proceedings enable to follow-up a goal that is not considered. If inequality is detected, why then not try to eliminate it? Why not state clearly the search? The question to be made to the Brazilian State is: which are the difficulties and/or the obstacles to consider the fight against racism and racial discrimination as an axe on educational policies? Hasn’t Durban (2001) already pointed out this need? The question to be made to us, militants for education for all is: to what extent does the racial component constitute an element to be considered at discussions, researches and policy elaboration for adults education? Ana Agostino is right when she says that to overcome poverty and inequality are important tasks. But we need to consider, anyway, which are the structural causes of inequality and exploitation, and not their effects among which poverty - that need immediate attention and investment of resources to face and overcome them. Among the different producers of inequality, racism is pointed as the major generator of inequality in the Brazilian and Latin American cases. Barriers put to black people to prevent their access to social welfare and public policies limit their possibility to obtain wealth through work. Wealth and social goods that are diverted directly to the privileges of the white population (Werneck, 2006). I don’t ignore the problems white women live, problems that are still elaborated through the last century by feminist movements. Black women are immersed in complex social relationships that articulate racial discrimination by white women and men and gender discrimination by black and white men. This process traps black women inside a damned circle of poverty: unemployment, low education level, mental and physical problems, absence of rights and low participation in the social welfare structure, etc. Considering this reality we can talk of “racialisation” of poverty. Knowing this we are obliged to consider, in the fight against poverty, to face racism and sexism as essential axes of action. Maybe the explicit absence of this subject and its configuration as a goal in important documents like the Hamburg Declaration (1997), the Millennium Declaration (2000) or others like the one that shows the principle that guides ICAE’s mission (www.icae.org), turns natural its invisibility in political analyses and elaborations. This absence cannot be considered, I believe, as the non existence of racial problems. On the contrary, the absence must be understood as the strength of prevailing ideas in society as, in spite of its significant presence in society, policies are elaborated regardless of their existence. It can be said that its non observance guarantees the strengthening of racism as well as other factors of social exclusion (ethnic, regionalism). To think of adults education with a view to social, economic and political justice makes it essential to look for equality of gender, race and ethnical relationships. To think on the "universal right to education; a life in harmony with the environment; respect for women’s active participation on those decisions that affect their lives" as it is stated in the principle that guides ICAE’s mission is also to think on the need to fight against racism and sexism, is to think on an education that helps people to understand and act in the fight against racism and sexism, in the fight against racial and gender discrimination. Is to think on an educational process that enables to build a positive look on race diversity and gender differences. I would like, then, to present some proposal and actions that I had already presented in our meeting in Nairobi, Kenya (2007). Proposals and actions With respect to the organization/realization specifically of CONFINTEA VI we, men and women, must: 1. Advocate for the creation of a commission of experts on the subject of racism and antiracism in order that adults education policy can be elaborated and executed considering the need to fight against racism. Regarding actions that involve adults education we must: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. In order that our institutions act on the fight against poverty we can think of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Essential information to be considered is that in order to enable the access to social participation instances it is necessary to have a wide range of tools and languages capable of addressing the society in all its diversity. On the contrary, by leaning on the common pattern of unequal society, the presence of these inequalities within institutional and political mechanisms is not considered. And the consequence will be that inequalities and privilege mechanisms will repeat. So, inequalities will remain and poverty will advance.
Carmen Colazo:
comments to the document of Ana Agostino
Dear colleagues: I think the paper written by Ana Agostino is excellent and it invites us to continue with the analysis. First of all, I believe those different approaches about poverty that she looks at (where one must highlight the ones from UNDP/UN due to the comprehensive understanding of poverty, specially the Human Development Reports) as well as the conceptualizations on social exclusion and social disaffiliation (Robert Castel), are very important when working on this relationship. I think it is very interesting to take into account that social disaffiliation refers to the process in which people generate paths towards poverty or exclusion because policies should take into account, in a precautionary way, the groups that can be exposed to these paths (examples are middle class adult women who get divorced or become widows in this new context of labour flexibilisation where housewives can end up in poverty if they have not continuo with their education). Many of our policies only refer to the low income classes, those that are characterised as living on less that USD 1 a day, without thinking that in the future, those children and adults that do not have access to the new technologies, who do not have abilities for life in their communities that at the same time allow them to move into world, will be more exposed to social disaffiliation and also to exclusion and poverty. Policies on exclusion (that does not imply poverty but the social marginalisation of certain groups, sometimes even of the wealthy ones) are not sufficient. I am worried about these issues because the current globalisation is leading to concentrations of wealth and power never seen before and can determine in the future an increase in poverty statistics (with that characterisation of people living on less than USD1 a day, that causes us pain because we cannot imagine life with that income and with all the other shortages it implies) as well as in social exclusion, already growing. Education processes have always implied paths for development. The choice for education is key, but it must also be swift and relevant to these times that are fast, turbulent, unstable; it should favour human development, which in different contexts can have different meanings, meanings that we must also know, elicit and adapt into effective and efficient policies. We must also take into account that the ESCR (Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) are closely related, they are indivisible and we must work politically with them in a universal way and seeing them as a total. Carmen Colazo.
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